Formaldehyde

Abstract

Formaldehyde is a versatile, reactive substance, basic to the chemical industry because of its low cost and ease of production. It is manufactured by vapor‐phase oxidation of methanol using two principal processes. One method employs a pure silver catalyst and the other an iron molybdate catalyst. Several other processes are under development, but none have been commercialized. All processes are capital intensive, requiring integrated reaction, heat recovery, and purification systems to achieve optimum economic benefits. Formaldehyde is sold as concentrated, aqueous solutions, and may contain methanol to inhibit polymerization. It is also sold in alcohol solutions, which contain little water. Its principal uses are in the production of amino and phenolic resins, polyhydric alcohols, acetal resins, paraformaldehyde, and fertilizers. It reacts with numerous organic compounds in condensation‐type reactions, resulting in formation of one or more new carbon‐carbon bonds. In recent years, formaldehyde has come under increased scrutiny because of its potential negative health effects. It is an irritant to the eyes, nose, and throat, and is a suspected human carcinogen.

Anhydrous Methanol and Ethanol Dehydrogenation at Cu(111) Step Edges

“…Alcohol dehydrogenation on heterogeneous catalysts is the most significant industrial pathway for formaldehyde production, , with global production exceeding 30 million tonnes per year. Current catalysts, based on either silver or oxides of iron, molybdenum, and vanadium require oxygen to facilitate alcohol oxidation and therefore produce water as a byproduct. Separating formaldehyde and unreacted methanol from water requires energy-intensive absorber and vacuum distillation stages. , If catalysts were able to function in the absence of oxygen, industrially valuable H 2 would be produced instead of water.…”

Catalysis in VOC Abatement

“…The commercial formaldehyde process uses methanol and air as the feed mixture, and either silver or metal oxides (V 2 O 5 , Fe, Mo) as catalysts to intensify the reaction [234]. In the research field different molybdenum [235][236][237][238] and vanadia based catalysts [239][240][241][242][243][244][245][246][247] have been widely under investigation for methanol oxidation.…”

Partial oxidation (POX) processes and technology for clean fuel and chemical production

“…For example, the use of methanol and/or methyl mercaptan as a reactant to produce formaldehyde has been studied by many research groups (Burgess et al , 2002;Forzatti et al , 1997;Isaguliants et al , 2005;Niskala et al 2010). The reactions relevant for the preparation of valuable compounds in pulp and paper integrates instead of burning contaminated methanol involve the following main partial oxidation reactions (Burgess et al , 2002): The commercial formaldehyde process uses methanol and air as the feed mixture and either silver or metal oxides are applied as catalysts (Gerberich and Seaman et al , 1994). When using the silver catalyst the reactions occur at atmospheric pressure at temperatures between 600-650 °C.…”